


The Danger of Playing Along

by DistractedSiren



Series: Bylaude One-Shots [7]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Christmas-like holiday fluff, F/M, Mistletoe, Until she isn't, byleth is oblivious
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-12
Updated: 2019-11-12
Packaged: 2021-01-29 12:16:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21410041
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DistractedSiren/pseuds/DistractedSiren
Summary: Hilda recruits Byleth for a very special holiday mission: to get Claude under the mistletoe with the lovely Petra. Only the plan backfires when Byleth realizes just how much Claude kissing someone else bothers her.
Relationships: My Unit | Byleth/Claude von Riegan
Series: Bylaude One-Shots [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1489004
Comments: 14
Kudos: 337





	The Danger of Playing Along

**Author's Note:**

> I've been struggling lately with writing and motivation. I decided to glance around Tumblr for prompts, just to keep myself in the habit of writing every day. Plus I'm just find myself extra excited for Christmas this year, so anything holiday-related is giving me life even though it's a tiny bit early haha...
> 
> Also, let's just pretend that this isn't completely out of place as far as the war phase timeline goes.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you are having a lovely day!

It starts off as a kind of cheesy holiday joke. Byleth doesn’t usually participate in that sort of thing, but Hilda’s enthusiasm is contagious and desperate for some fun during this short break in the fighting. The Winter Solstice holiday is full of old traditions that Byleth has never celebrated. On the road, their mercenary group usually only participated in the feast part, but she knows that generally there is gift giving, singing, special church services and bonfires. And, as Hilda gleefully explains to her baffled Professor, kissing under mistletoe.

“Isn’t that sweet, Professor? It’s the perfect excuse to give your crush a little peck. Who knows, it might even lead to something more. This holiday is just so _perfect_ for romance. And I have an idea,” Hilda says.

Warning bells go off in Byleth’s brain, but she finds herself asking what kind of idea before she can stop herself.

“We_llll,_ our leader man is a pretty handsome guy, am I right? And he and Petra have a lot in common. I think she really likes him! So I was thinking we could give them a helpful little nudge.”

“A nudge?” Byleth replies. “Like physically?”

“Maybe, if Claude is stubborn about it. But I just meant that we should help them out by making sure they end up under the mistletoe at tomorrow night’s Solstice Ball.”

Byleth shrugs. “That seems harmless enough. What do you need me to do?”

“Oh, you have a _very_ important job, Professor.” Hilda grins. “You have to make sure that Claude doesn’t notice the mistletoe until it’s too late.”

* * *

It’s this very important job that has Byleth examining the ballroom the same way she would a battlefield. Her eyes run over the rafters, picking out several sprigs of the festive little plant. All she has to do is make sure Claude doesn’t realize she’s herding him toward one. Maybe she can use the others to her advantage: if he’s watching other people getting stuck under the stuff, he might not notice he’s been positioned under it himself.

And luckily, she can see the beginnings of a very dramatic encounter already forming. Ingrid is bodily dragging Sylvain away from a pair of flustered nuns, and they’re making their way right toward a bunch of mistletoe. Lysithea and Leonie are just waiting for them to be underneath it before they raise the alarm: they’re already giggling as the pair unwittingly draws closer.

She rugs on Claude’s sleeve and points, all while deftly moving him a couple steps over to his left. Almost there.

Claude spots the impending disaster and starts laughing softly. “Sylvain’s in for it now. Do you think they’ll actually kiss?”

Byleth smiles a little. “I think he’ll try. I wonder how much Ingrid will let him get away with.”

Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Hilda pulling Petra over on some pretext or another. Meanwhile, Lysithea and Leonie gleefully point out the mistletoe that Sylvain and Ingrid have just crossed under.

“Are you _kidding_ me?” Ingrid snaps as Sylvain grins.

“It’s tradition,” he insists. Then he leans in for his kiss. For two seconds, Ingrid actually relaxes into her friend’s embrace. Then she shoves him away, face crimson, and stalks off through the crowd.

Claude is laughing wholeheartedly now. “Those two are _never_ going to figure it out—” he starts just as Byleth gives him one last nudge. On his other side, Hilda crowds Petra into his space, and they’re the ones under the mistletoe now.

“Oops,” Hilda says, adorable guilty. “Guess you two are gonna have to kiss now.”

Claude shoots her a look. “As far as schemes go, this one was pretty lame. But Teach—you were in on it too? I don’t know if I should feel wounded or proud.”

She smirks at him. “Stop stalling,” she tells him, and he winks at her before turning to a very confused Petra.

“Do you mind?” he asks her. She’s blushing very prettily, and she shakes her head and turns her face up to his. Hilda scoots over to Byleth’s side and gives her a high five as Claude leans down to kiss the princess on the lips.

Instantly, Byleth’s victory sours. The kiss only lasts a moment, a polite nod to an old tradition, but she sees how his hands cup her arms, and the way Petra closes her eyes and lifts up on her toes a little in anticipation, and the warmth and amusement disappear. The smile leaves her lips as a strange pain stabs through her chest. Suddenly hollow, she takes a few steps back and then disappears into the crowd.

By the time Claude lifts his head again just a moment or two later, there’s no trace of her. He was going to tease her about letting Hilda talk her into one of the oldest and lamest schemes in the book, but she’s nowhere to be seen.

Petra is thanking him, but he’s distracted by Byleth’s abrupt disappearance.

“Where did…ah, sorry. I mean to say, it was my pleasure, Petra.” He gives her the warmest smile he can muster before turning to Hilda. “Did you see where Teach went?”

“The professor? But don’t you want to, I dunno, find a nice, dark corner and kiss Petra some more?” Hilda asks as she watches the princess walk away. “I mean, I’m pretty sure she’s into you. And she’s a _princess._”

“What?” Claude blinks at her, for once a little taken aback. “No, I—listen, Petra is an amazing woman and any guy would be lucky to catch her eye, but I can’t be what she needs. Whoever she chooses will have to rule Brigid with her, and I have responsibilities elsewhere.”

“It can’t all be about politics, Claude. Sometimes you just have to see where love takes you,” she chides him. He ignores that comment and looks over her head, scanning the crowd again.

“Did Teach say if she was going to leave the ball early?” he asks.

All at once, Hilda’s eyes go wide. “Uh, no…but you know the professor, she really isn’t one for fancy parties. She probably went somewhere to be alone.” She nudges him. “Maybe you should go find her.”

“Yeah, I think I will.” He grabs two glasses of champagne from a passing waiter. “And hey, maybe you should find Marianne and see where love takes _you_ tonight.”

Hilda sticks her tongue out at him as he walks away. As he heads for the doors, she taps her finger against her lips. Clearly, she’s misjudged his interested in Petra, but she doesn’t think she’s misjudging his interest in the professor. Only…is the professor interested back? She can be so stoic…it’s hard to tell.

She decides to take Claude’s advice and seek out Marianne for a few kisses of her own, but not before she wonders if anyone bothered to put any mistletoe in the Goddess Tower.

* * *

She hears his boots on the stairs before she sees him. It’s cold at the top of the tower, and she feels much more exposed than normal as she waits for him to appear at the top of the steps. Her hands rub up and down over her arms, trying to generate friction, but her nerves are touchy enough that she doubts she’d feel comfortable even if she’d been wrapped in a heavy winter coat.

Finally, he arrives. He walks into the room with a smile and two glasses of champagne, looking triumphant that he’s found her here.

“_There_ you are, Teach. You know, you really ought to stop ducking out of parties without giving me a heads up. I could at least have grabbed us a few snacks before coming up here.”

“I didn’t expect you’d be interested in following me,” she says, accepting the glass he holds out to her just so she has something to do with her restless hands. She examines the sparkling liquid.

“I’d follow you just about anywhere, my friend. I thought I’d made that clear by now,” he says with a quiet laugh. He joins her near the window. “Beautiful night.”

“It is,” she agrees. She tries to control her shivers, wishing she’d stopped by her room to grab a cloak before making her way up here. He sets his glass down and shrugs out of his jacket. It’s too formal to be especially warm, but as soon as it settles over her bare arms and shoulders, a sense of comfort washes over her.

“You left awfully quickly. Everything okay?” he asks as he plucks up his glass again.

“Yes.” She swirls the champagne in her glass and tries not to pull his jacket even tighter around her body. It just smells so _good._ “I’m sorry if we put you in an awkward situation with Petra.”

He waves a hand. “Petra’s a smart girl and she knows a lot more about Fódlan and its traditions than people give her credit for. I’m sure she took it at face value.”

She laughs softly. “Hilda made it sound like the first step in your grand romance.”

“No.” His voice is surprisingly firm, much more serious than she’d expected. She glances at him and finds him staring at her already.

“Maybe I shouldn’t have agreed to help,” she says. He gives her a half-smile.

“Hilda had the right idea but the wrong girl,” he replies, inching closer to her.

“I didn’t like it when you kissed Petra,” she admits, her voice wavering just a little as he takes another step into her personal space.

“You didn’t?” His voice is soft as he takes her glass and sets it beside his on the windowsill.

“No. That’s why I left so quickly.”

“That’s really good news, my friend,” he tells her, now so close that they’re brushing against one another.

“It is?” She isn’t even sure what she’s saying anymore. She’s already reaching up, going on her toes as his arms close around her to pull her flush against him.

“Oh yes,” he breathes, and then he’s kissing her.


End file.
